Chapter 423: Chen Yan: You Dare Threaten Me?

Time flies; half a month passes in an instant.

Since Gao Yang gave birth to Xiao Sui An, Chen Yan set aside a lingering concern, and after finishing the household chores, he hurried to Xianlya.

He had expected many affairs and documents awaiting his attention, but he never imagined that Li Yifu and his men were each more outstanding than the last; all matters at Xianlya were handled in perfect order, and the commercial issues were managed quite well by Xu Lianyue.

Xu Lianyue even recruited many workers en masse to produce white sugar on a large scale, and now Weinan County has two more sugar shops.

Of course, most of the white sugar is sold to various parts of the Tang Dynasty through Wang Lao Wu and his crew via numerous channels, which is the main source of revenue.

Everything developed as Chen Yan had expected; after arriving at Xianlya, he suddenly found himself with nothing to do.

Instead, Du Gou and the others found him a nuisance, suggesting he might as well go teach a class.

Chen Yan thought, if I'm going to teach, so be it; it would also prevent others from saying he never shows up, and he could use this time to appear before the common folk.

What he didn't expect was that in the past half month there had been no major cases at all, and even the few minor ones didn't warrant a public lecture.

Chen Yan sat at the desk, propping his chin with one hand, idly tapping with the other, his eyes watching the bustling figures around him, feeling completely out of place.

Fang Yizhi noticed the scene and advised, "Brother Chen, why not go out for a walk, or return home to tend to your wife and daughter? Each of us has our own duties, and yours is to point us toward the right path, so why stay here?"

Chen Yan felt tempted and hesitated, "Wouldn't that be letting you all down? You're all busy, and I, as County Magistrate, am slacking off; it doesn't seem right."

Du Gou, who was buried in paperwork, looked up at the remark, "Brother Chen, you aren't possessed by some mountain spirit, are you? When we previously lacked staff at Xianlya, you boldly slacked off; now that we finally have enough hands, you think slacking off is unacceptable?"

Chen Yan: "......"

Du Gou sighed, "Brother Chen, just drop it, go do what you should do. We aren't counting on you for these tasks. With this free time, why not go out and have a look; you might come up with a better development plan."

"Ahem!" Chen Yan cleared his throat, stood up calmly, "Since you all say so, I'll be off then. If any issues arise, feel free to come find me."

Du Gou and Fang Yizhi said nothing further, bowing their heads to attend to their own work.

Chen Yan shrugged disinterestedly, turned, and left.

Honestly, this situation matched his expectations; he became County Magistrate without ever intending to be a conventional one.

And if things continue this way, perhaps by next year, or at the latest the year after, he won't be County Magistrate any more.

Minor issues are delegated entirely to subordinates, major ones he reviews and decides, and critical matters are discussed together by everyone seated.

Thus, Ma Zhou, Du Gou, and the other seasoned men gain ample experience, with many chances to showcase their abilities, paving the way for a good future after leaving Weinan County.

Meanwhile, he can relax, do more of what he enjoys, or spend time with his family.

If possible, Chen Yan thinks continuing like this would be fine.

Just as he was happily pondering, he stepped out of Xianlya and suddenly saw Li Tai running over, as delighted as a fool.

"Prince of Yue… what is this?"

"What Prince of Yue?" Li Tai said with a stern face, "Now call me His Highness Wei Wang!"

He built a hot air balloon; although he got a good beating for it, Li Shimin later granted him a reward, and now he has become Wei Wang.

"Alright, alright!" Chen Yan, helplessly, "I've seen His Highness Wei Wang, is that okay?"

Li Tai beamed, "Brother Chen, I borrowed the forge's bellows, made a small one and installed it on the hot air balloon, and moreover…"

Li Tai rambled on, summarizing in one sentence, "Brother Chen, I can now control the balloon's ascent and descent myself; our hot air balloon is a success."

"Good! Very good!" Chen Yan gave a thumbs‑up, "Indeed worthy of our brilliant Wei Wang, polishing the balloon to perfection in just half a month—admire! admire!"

Having said that, he walked ahead on his own.

Li Tai hurried after him, "Brother Chen, now that the balloon is built, what shall we study next?"

"You should give me new ideas!"

"Where are there any new ideas?" Chen Yan said irritably, "Do you think this is wild greens by the roadside? Just because you say it exists doesn't mean it does; you could dig forever!"

"No, go think for yourself!"

"No!" Li Tai snapped, "This isn't what we agreed on earlier, is it? Didn't you say there were many similar things?"

"You even said the hot air balloon was just a trivial step for us; that step just finished, why is it gone now?"

"You yourself said the step just finished; can't you take a break?" Chen Yan was speechless.

The Wei Wang Consort has lately taken issue with him; once she complained to Li Lizhi that Wei Wang never comes home, spending nights in bed thinking only of the hot air balloon.

Who can stand that?

"Rest?" Li Tai scoffed, "Only those useless to the nation and historical progress need rest; in my life, the word 'rest' doesn't exist!"

"Brother Chen, tell me quickly, what's the next step?"

Chen Yan: "......"

He always feels he's being subtly mocked, but he has no proof!

"No! Go away, I'm going home to see my lady; you take a few months off first!"

He shoved Li Tai aside in one motion and trudged forward.

Li Tai didn't chase this time, standing in place, hands behind his back, saying, "Brother Chen, I didn't want this, I know you mean well; I'm not an ungrateful person."

"So even though you beat me last time, I'm not angry."

"But I truly don't need rest; don't force me."

"What can I do if I force you?" Chen Yan turned and said.

"If you force me, I can do anything!!"

"Oh! Then when I get home I'll give you some math problems!"

Li Tai: "......"

He lowered his head, "Brother Chen, if it's like that, then I will return to the palace to contest the throne with my imperial brother."

Chen Yan: "......"

He stared at Li Tai in disbelief!

Damn it!

Playing tricks, huh?

"You think you can threaten me like this?" Chen Yan, furious, glared at him.

Li Tai looked up at the sky at a 45-degree angle: "If Gao Yang and Li Zhi knew that half a month ago, you and the Crown Prince, along with Cheng Chu Mo and the others, secretly went to the brothel!"

"You still dare to threaten me!!!"

"You wrote a poem for that girl named Zhao Xiang after getting drunk........"

"......" Let's discuss it a bit~

"......"